Not sure it alone is worth it, (I would hit blackbird on Washington Street after at least) but they are pretty solid the two times I have been. Pretty big tap list for such a new company (in our area) at least. As well as many styles represented well. One of the owners has been there each time I have been and he seems very knowledgeable and excited for the brewery!
Yeah, what he said - nice folks, pleasant taproom and some interesting beers (the brewer, Thomas, is into old-world styles like gruits and braggots) but still a work in progress, brewing on a little 1.5-barrel system with plastic fermenters (which is why they can do so many different styles). I've usually enjoyed the Lightbender CDA, and they recently put on an English-style mild made with local malt from Palouse Pint that I've been meaning to check out.
The Lightbender is legit, no joke. Still not sure Braggots can be a thing for me, but I also really liked Albion, despite there being literally no hops in it.
Not thrilled about beer made in plastic but will give them a visit. Thanks for the encouragement and info. I'll probably do a whole half day (after noon) and park my car at Liberty Lake and ride the STA (that alone can be an interesting adventure). Now I have to see what blackbird is.
Blackbird is run by the same people who have Manito Tap House. They actually seem to come before MTH when it comes to rare kegs. Only had appetizers there so far, but the menu is adventurous looking. They seem to like somewhat unusual pairings of sweet and salty. Further north on Monroe, you might want to get off the STA and take a stroll east on Garland and stop by Beerocracy. I've only been in once so far, (first weekend of June when it was hot as balls) but it seems a really great bar. Pretty much a one-man operation as far as I could tell, regularly rotated taps per the owner/bartender, and everything there was quality. First time I'd seen an AleSmith beer on tap in Spokane. I think I saw on fb yesterday they were putting on 60, 90 and 120 Min IPAs all at once, but I'm out of carousing money until next week so I declined to attend.
I think I need to check out that mild. I've only had one (from Beer Valley, IIRC), but I love the idea, plus I've been geeking out about UK ales in Jeff Alworth's Beer Bible the last couple days.
@fuhkyou, if possible (and if you haven't already) you might want to budget enough time to check out Steel Barrel as well. One of their two tenants (Young Buck Brewing) has bought a few of Ramblin' Road's old barrels and has the avowed intention of being Eastern Washington's biggest brewer of sour beers (admittedly, he doesn't have a lot of competition at the moment). Plus they have a lot of guest taps, and if you like ceviche, it's about a 5-10 second walk to get some.
Well worth a visit (though Iron Goat will be passing Young Buck in the sour standings now that they bought those 50 Townshend barrels for their program).
That's right, and they make a helluva sight, all those barrels, though I assumed that would not be just for sours, as they've done quite well with their barrel aged Goatnik and Scotch Ales. Though Bert Grant's name is not unknown to me, and I had a few of his beer before his successors ran his brewery into the ground, that one was sadly before my time. I'd love to see more local brewers tackle milds, but they'd probably have to do it in pretty small quantities, as the hops-only crowd won't dig it and I don't think it's the kind of beer that ages well.Also, somebody local needs to install a cask engine and make some authentic English Bitters.
Next time you come across the pass, make sure to schedule some time to hit Machine House in Seattle. @TheBungyo took me there once, and the place was awesome. I think you'll be very happy you went.
Yep, as Terry said, Machine House has the beer engine base covered. I think they have 5 or 6 beer engines and one keg. If you like proper English beers you'll definitely dig their stuff. Later in the year they do English barleywines and such too. Gotta say too, I really wish I had made it down to Yakima to try Grant's stuff.
Those are in whiskey barrels - new barrels all are red wine, they're getting a bunch of fruit from Green Bluff for sours. (They've also been teasing more gin barrel Head Butt.)
